England captures All-ACC honors

Tech's men's and women's swimming and diving teams traveled to Chapel Hill last week to compete in the women's ACC championships and men's ACC diving competition Feb. 14-17, hosted by UNC. Strong team spirit coupled with solid performances captured the championship weekend.

The women's squad finished with an overall ninth-place finish with 138 points.

The home team North Carolina bagged the ACC women's title (737 points), edging out 2006 champion Florida State (642.5), and Virginia (475).

Junior Stephanie England garnered all-conference honors with her third-place finish on the three-meter board on Friday night with 293.25 points; England is Tech's first female diver to earn All-ACC honors.

"I am just really happy with how I placed - ACC's was definitely my best meet," said England.

England's performance will send her to compete in the NCAA Zone Diving Championships scheduled a few weeks out in Athens, Ga. England will be vying for a spot to compete at the NCAA conference championship, contingent upon a strong showing at the Zone qualifying meet.

"Zones are really tough, but my best chance to place [well] is on Tower," said England.

Freshman diver Hannah Krimm also helped lead the Jackets, with an eighth-place finish of 258.55 points on the three-meter board in finals. The teammates carried the squad into the final day of competition.

"Hannah [Krimm] and I had a really solid season; Hannah really pushes me to compete," said England.

On the men's side, Junior Evan Stowers attained a fourth-place finish on the men's one-meter board with a score of 333.65.

Unable to defend his ACC title on the three-meter, Stowers tallied a tenth-place finish for the event with a score of 318.80.

Stowers' performance will lead the Jackets' men's squad with a solid start into the men's ACC swimming and diving championship, held this weekend again at Chapel Hill. The women had a rocky start on the first day of competition, but the team grew stronger with each day of the meet.

"No one gave up after the first day, even though it was not where we wanted to be," said Junior Elizabeth Stowe.

A stand-out swim from Stowe in the 1,650-yard freestyle on the final day capped off the team's daily improvement.

With steady speed and endurance, Stowe inched her way to a fourth place finish in the pack, clocking a NCAA 'B' cut and season-best time of 16:34.94: Stowe currently holds the Tech record for the 1,650-yard freestyle event.

Stowe's NCAA 'B' standard time in the event allows her to be considered for an invitation to compete at the NCAA swimming and diving championships in March.

If invited, this would be Stowe's second appearance at the championship meet.

Stowe also finished 17th in the 500-yard freestyle, followed by teammate Freshman Jing Li in 21st.

Other top finishers included Senior co-captain Alison Walker's finish of 15th in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:05.89, while Freshman Lisa Pucci clocked a time of 1:06.96 to finish in 20th place in the event.

Freshman Caroline Jones took 20th in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:05.83 for the Jackets.

Even though there were a few stand-out performances, the entire team's swims were important throughout the championship.

"The best part [of ACC's] was watching everyone come together as a team. Last year was a tough season. [This year] the atmosphere was so much better with everyone really supporting each other as a team," said Walker.

The theme of support and excitement was echoed throughout the entire season.

"Our team's atmosphere was a lot more supportive [than last year]. Everyone was at the side of the pool cheering and excited to watch everyone else swim," said Stowe.

The improvement on the women's side has been tremendous since the inaugural season in 2001.

"I am really proud of such a young team; to be six years old and moving up like we are is awesome; the dedication on this team is so intense," said Walker.

With a young team and solid season, the Jacket's have a positive future on the women's side. The championship weekend capped off a solid season.

The men's squad is swimming in the ACC championship in Chapel Hill through the 24th.